Philadelphia IBEW Contractor Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud, Theft
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For Donald Dougherty, the old habits wouldn’t go away. That’s why he’s likely to go to prison. On January 21, Dougherty, a Philadelphia-based electrical contractor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to one count each of tax fraud and theft related to his work with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98. Several members of that Philadelphia union were indicted by a grand jury two years ago. Dougherty and an accountant for his firm, Michael McKale, were indicted separately this past November 25 on multiple fraud and theft charges. The actions follow a joint probe by the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and Office of Inspector General.
Mail Handlers President in St. Louis Charged with Embezzlement
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On January 6, Scott Rodgers, president of National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 314, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri with one count of embezzling $80,765 from the St. Louis-based union following a grand jury indictment. According to prosecutors, Rodgers made four unauthorized ATM withdrawals and used his union debit card for personal expenditures such as meals, fuel, transportation, travel and lodging. He also allegedly claimed false reimbursements for lost work time. This union can’t seem to stay out of trouble. In October, former Local 314 treasurer Yvette Luster was indicted for stealing $184,138. The actions in both cases follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.
On January 6, Scott Rodgers, president of National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 314, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri with one count of embezzling $80,765 from the St. Louis-based union following a grand jury indictment. According to prosecutors, Rodgers made four unauthorized ATM withdrawals and used his union debit card for personal expenditures such as meals, fuel, transportation, travel and lodging. He also allegedly claimed false reimbursements for lost work time. This union can’t seem to stay out of trouble. In October, former Local 314 treasurer Yvette Luster was indicted for stealing $184,138. The actions in both cases follow a joint investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.… Read More ➡
Los Angeles-Area Chiropractor Sentenced in $4.8M ILWU Benefit Scam
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Anyone doubting that health care providers enable union benefit fraud probably hasn’t looked at Southern California lately. Mahyar David Yadidi, a Los Angeles-area chiropractor, was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 46 months in prison for submitting about $4.8 million in fraudulent reimbursements to an International Longshore and Warehouse Union health plan, and ordered to pay nearly $2 million in restitution. Yadidi had pleaded guilty last November after being charged in September. Two clinic employees, Ivan Semerdjiev and Julian Williams, had received prison sentences, respectively, of one year and six months. The actions follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Inspector General, and Employee Benefits Security Administration, part of a larger investigation into Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
Justice Department, UAW Reach Settlement on Reform Plan
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Dennis Williams
The United Auto Workers knew a settlement was coming. Now comes the hard part: compliance. This past Monday, December 14, Matthew Schneider, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced that his office and the UAW had settled a civil suit filed earlier that day against the union based on acts of fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion committed by certain among its members. Criminal investigations had led to charges and convictions of 15 individuals, mostly union officials, including recent UAW Presidents Gary Jones and Dennis Williams. Most thus far have received sentences. The consent order, which requires court approval, creates an Independent Monitor possessed of the authority for up to six years to investigate and discipline corruption.